1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns an endoscope device in which the optical system can be changed using an optical adaptor, and relates to an endoscope device and endoscopic image distortion correction method in which the distortion in the endoscopic image is corrected prior to carrying out measurements.
2. Description of Related Art
Distortion in an endoscopic image arises due to the distortion in an optical system that incorporates an endoscope and an optical adaptor. In the case of conventional endoscope devices, a technique has been proposed in which the endoscope's distortion correcting means corrects image distortion based on optical data that includes distortion correction parameters (see Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-049638, for example). Optical data are created by an image processing device during the production process for the optical adaptor, when the optical adaptor and a reference scope are combined. This optical adaptor and optical data are used together with the user scope. Note that measurements employ the images which have been corrected for distortion, thus, measurement precision improves with more accurate distortion correction.
Optical properties (such as magnification, for example) will differ between the reference scope and the user scope. Since the optical data is created when the optical adaptor is combined with the reference scope, it does not reflect the properties of the user scope. Accordingly, distortion correction can be more accurately performed by correcting the distortions that arise due to differences in the properties of the reference and user scopes.